Minnetonka couple killed in house fire

MINNETONKA, Minn. - A Minnetonka couple died in a fire that consumed their home Friday night.

Firefighters were called to the home on Westwood Road, near Shelard Parkway, just after 10:30 p.m.

Brent Weldon, deputy fire chief for Minnetonka Fire said, "When crews arrived, they found a well involved structure at that time. We were unable to make entry."

Once the fire was extinguished, they found two victims.

Neighbor Lorraine Besonen saw it all from her front window. She said, "It looked like it was the chimney in the back and then the whole front of the house."

She said the couple who lived there, Brian and Sandra Humphrey, have been her friends and neighbors for more than 40 years. She said their children played together.

Besonen said she spoke to two of the couple's three children overnight and they told her it was their parents who died.

KARE 11 spoke with the couple's son but he didn't want to comment.

Sandra McLeod Humphrey was an author of character building books for children. On her Twitter account, she tweeted more than 20 times Friday about books.

Besonen said she also spoke on the phone with Brian Humphrey on Friday, to ask him if he knew the name of a good plumber. She said, "Oh yeah, it was fine. It was perfect. They were healthy. They were fine. They were very active people."

She wondered why the couple didn't escape the blaze.

She said she will miss them but, "I think they're rejoicing in heaven that Sandy and Brian are both there. They are wonderful, wonderful people."